# Deep Frying: How much oil do you need? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [December 19, 2022, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-frying-how-much-oil-do-you-need/976767 "2022-12-19T04:29:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2022, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-frying-how-much-oil-do-you-need/976767/21 "2022-12-19T17:00:48Z")
Hmm, the internet says the smoke point is lower, like 375F, but i suppose the food doesn’t get as hot as the air. Or maybe the oven thermostat lies. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2022, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-frying-how-much-oil-do-you-need/976767/22 "2022-12-19T17:07:06Z")
OK, now that I’m more awake. When I deep fry I typically use a dutch oven or a wok. I just want enough oil to cover what I’m deep frying by about an inch or so. I use maybe a liter to a liter and a half of oil? I also prefer to use a mix of used and new oil. I feel new oil doesn’t brown the food as well. I try to go for about a quarter used, 3/4 new, but I’ve gone as much as 50-50. I heat the oil to 375F for most items, sometimes a little bit higher (like 390) if it’s a rather large piece of chicken. Most of the deep frying itself I like to be done somewhere in the 325-350 range once the temp settles. That said, deep frying indoors sucks unless you have an industrial hood or something. I try to do it outside when I can. ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2022, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-frying-how-much-oil-do-you-need/976767/23 "2022-12-20T15:47:28Z")
The deepest pot you own will keep a large fraction of oil spatter contained. I’ve always imagined that food particles in the used oil contribute to “staling”. I use a fine-mesh paper paint strainer (cone shaped) to line a large funnel to clean the oil. A big jug stored in a dark cabinet is good. When you do need to ditch old oil, find an auto-parts store that accepts drained engine oil. I only use olive oil for deep frying - love the flavor, and if you use a frying thermometer you won’t overheat it - 390 seems to work best for me. I once owned a Presto deep fryer (inherited from Mom) and it worked a treat. Moved to a house with a small kitchen, and decided it had to go. Sob! Dan ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2022, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-frying-how-much-oil-do-you-need/976767/24 "2022-12-20T15:49:56Z")
> [@Dandan](#): > > When you do need to ditch old oil, find an auto-parts store that accepts drained engine oil. Hmmm, I wonder if you could use it in a chainsaw… ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2022, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-frying-how-much-oil-do-you-need/976767/25 "2022-12-20T16:18:38Z")
Ah, I love the smell of french-fried sawdust on a brisk winter’s afternoon. I’d say yes, I used a chainsaw to implement the only heat in my house and shop for a dozen years, and seems like a good idea to me. Dan ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2022, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-frying-how-much-oil-do-you-need/976767/26 "2022-12-20T16:57:51Z")
As fuel, or bar oil? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2022, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-frying-how-much-oil-do-you-need/976767/27 "2022-12-20T16:58:31Z")
Hah! Bar oil. I usually use real bar oil or old 10Wwhatever. ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-frying-how-much-oil-do-you-need/976767/28 "2022-12-21T03:42:21Z")
Yes, as Kayaker says, chain oil only. In the '70s I had a neighbor who used crankcase drain oil for bar _and_ mix and so killed a Stihl a year. Proper 2-stroke oil and a little cleanliness and at the end of 12 years my Mac 10 was passed on to another happy owner. Dan ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-frying-how-much-oil-do-you-need/976767/29 "2022-12-21T05:09:07Z")
Around here are places that will accept used cooking oil to repurpose as fuel oil for home heating. I don’t know if one’s home ends up smelling like french fries and chicken and stuff or not. It’s mostly commercial kitchens that engage them. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-frying-how-much-oil-do-you-need/976767/30 "2022-12-21T12:25:31Z")
> [@Dandan](#): > > chain oil only My current main chainsaw is a 16 inch DeWalt Battery device, so the only oil I use in bar/chain oil. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-frying-how-much-oil-do-you-need/976767/31 "2022-12-21T12:31:58Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > How deep does the oil need to be? The potato slices are thin so I was thinking a sauté pan might suffice but every video I see is usually a Dutch oven or something similarly deep with a lot of oil in them. I’ve made my own chips plenty of times and you don’t need a lot of oil. A saute pan would work, I guess, though I prefer my cast iron skillet. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-frying-how-much-oil-do-you-need/976767/32 "2022-12-21T13:09:20Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > I don’t know if one’s home ends up smelling like french fries and chicken and stuff or not. If you do smell the cooking oil smell from your furnace that means the furnace exhaust is getting into your house. Time to abandon ship and call a heater repairman before you die of CO poisoning. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-frying-how-much-oil-do-you-need/976767/33 "2022-12-21T14:22:20Z")
So you’d only smell it from the furnace exhaust (if at all) and there’d be no smell from the storage container. Good to know. I wasn’t sure, since we can smell at least _some_ smell of the ordinary commecial oil from the storage tank when we do down into the basement. Maybe it’s from an old leak / spill and not from the inside of the tank. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-frying-how-much-oil-do-you-need/976767/34 "2022-12-21T14:29:39Z")
Ah, I misunderstood you. All storage tanks have a vent to the outside air. If not, as the oil was drawn down a vacuum would form in the tank. Whether “outside” is to the outdoor world or just to the outside of the tank in the interior of your basement. So if your tank is in the basement, smelling a whiff of petroleum oil smell or cooking oil smell down there near the tank would not be surprising. I have little personal experience with oil-burning furnaces, but the few tanks I’ve encountered were installed outdoors. In your earlier post I thought you meant smelling cooking oil smells coming out of the air vents as the furnace was running. Much as you’d smell cooking oil smells in a McDs. _That_ would be a real sure sign of an air leak between the furnace fire’s exhaust and the fresh air supply. Which would be bad. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2022, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-frying-how-much-oil-do-you-need/976767/35 "2022-12-21T14:48:38Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > All storage tanks have a vent to the outside air. If not, as the oil was drawn down a vacuum would form in the tank. Whether “outside” is to the outdoor world or just to the outside of the tank in the interior of your basement. Indoor oil tanks (in houses at least) always vent outside the building, next to the fill valve. That way when they fill the tank, they can hear the air escaping the tank and determine when to stop the flow by the change in sound. But yeah, if the oil tank is in an enclosed space, it’s pretty common to get a faint aroma of diesel. Might be from the burner, might be from a from the tank itself - the fitting between the fill tube and the tank is a likely culprit. But you shouldn’t be able to smell it throughout the house. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deep-frying-how-much-oil-do-you-need/976767.md?page=1)